Delusions
by Under0The0Sea
Summary: Harry Potter is a normal boy who is sent to Hogwarts - a school for children suffering from a delusion - specifically the delusion that they have magical powers - to gather information for the goverment who are worried about the delusion spreading. AU


_This plot bunny attacked me in my psychology lesson today. We were talking about schizophrenia, hallucinations and delusions and this popped into my head. _

It started innocuously enough with a letter. It was addressed to him in shiny green ink and the envelope was made of a strange thick paper. The letter excited him because at eleven years of age letters to him weren't very forthcoming. It made his cousin jealous anyway and hardly anything made Dudley jealous; Dudley had everything he wanted and a lot of stuff he didn't. He had opened it and pulled out the letter. He read it through and went back to the beginning and read it through again, more slowly this time. A frown appeared on his thin face and he adjusted his glasses and was just about to start reading the letter for a third time just to make sure he hadn't misread something when Dudley snatched the letter from him.

"Daddy!" whined Dudley, "Harry's got a letter. _I _want a letter." his uncle had looked up from a third helping of bacon.

"A letter?" his uncle asked, "Give it here." even Dudley couldn't ignore a direct order and so Dudley handed the letter over, albeit sulkily. His uncle took the letter and read it, a frown creasing his podgy face.

"Practical joke. Or somebody trying to sell us something." his uncle said dismissively. "You haven't given our address to anyone funny have you?" demanded his uncle stabbing a forkful of bacon in his direction. He shook his head. The letter was tossed to the side and forgotten. At least until the men in suits came.

A rap on the door had announced their arrival and when Aunt Petunia opened the door the asked her if this was the residence of Harry James Potter. They were ushered in by a concerned Aunt Petunia - whatever would the neighbours think if they saw those official looking men walking into their house? - and Harry and Dudley were immediately sent upstairs which neither one was happy about. And so they sat on the stairs trying to listen in, side by side, for once _both _of them excluded from something.

Harry found it hard to hear and he guessed that Dudley was having trouble too, as his large cousin kept sighing heavily. His cousin didn't cope well with boredom or frustration and eventually, giving Harry a punch in farewell, he went upstairs to his room presumably to play on his games console. Harry had more patience and so continued sitting on the stairs straining to hear what was being said after all the men had been asking about him so surely he had a _right _almost to hear what was being said.

…mass delusion… unprecedented … under surveillance… the words that he caught meant nothing to Harry. He thought about giving up, about going up to his tiny box room and reading a book perhaps when his uncle gave him a reason to stay and listen.

"Shouldn't let lunatics like that run around the country making a nuisance of themselves!" he shouted with indignation. Harry couldn't see into the living room but he could imagine Aunt Petunia putting a consoling hand on his uncles arm and pursing her lips in agreement. _What lunatics? _thought Harry _They're not talking about me are they?_

He didn't have much time to ponder on this thought as at that moment he heard the door open and he scrambled back up the stairs as quickly as he could. He didn't like to think what would happen if his aunt or uncle found out he had been listening in.

"Harry!" Aunt Petunia's shrill voice followed him up the stairs and Harry froze, thinking he had been caught.

"Harry Potter get downstairs this instant!" shrieked his aunt. Harry jumped as if he had been tasered and hurried back downstairs.

"Yes Aunt Petunia?" he asked, a little breathlessly when he was on the last step.

"Go into the lounge. There's some men in there who want to talk to you." she snapped "And hurry up!" she added when Harry showed no signs of sprinting to the lounge. Harry increased his pace and Aunt Petunia disappeared into the kitchen with a disdainful sniff.

Harry entered the living room nervously. Had he done something wrong? What did the men want with him? The men were waiting for him in the living room. There were four of them and they looked bland and strangely similar - all in black suits with a white shirt, coloured tie and blank expressions. They all looked uncomfortable, perched on the edge of their seats. They would be much more at home in an office or business.

"Harry James Potter?" one of the men asked. Harry nodded mutely. There were no seats left and he felt awkward standing. He was too on show, like a cornered or captured animal, and the men were staring intently at him which only added to the effect.

"You received a letter two days ago from one Proffessor McGonagall concerning your place at a Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry." again Harry nodded without saying a word. His throat felt too tight to speak - what was going on?

"What is your opinion on magic Master Potter?" Harry's eyebrows rose slightly betraying the surprise that overwhelmed him. The letter was a practical joke as Uncle Vernon had said. In fact Harry would have thought that Dudley had sent the letter, had Dudley not been intelligent enough to come up with such a prank. But if it was just a joke then why were these men taking it so seriously?

"It's not real!" exclaimed Harry, "the letter was just a joke or something. Why are you taking it so seriously?" the words came out fast and there was some level of distress in Harry's voice. He was confused perhaps this was another phase of the joke. But surely hiring people to come and question him about magic was going to far. Or maybe… maybe it was a tv show - one of the one's with the hidden cameras. He saw the men exchange dark significant looks, although significant of what Harry didn't know.

"You do not believe that the letter was real?" asked another of the men.

"Of course it wasn't real." a perplexed Harry replied. The confusion was evident in his voice and apparently it was enough to convince the men that he was telling the truth.

"Could you call your uncle in here please Harry." Harry nodded and edged out of the room at a complete loss as to what was going on. He entered the kitchen and found his aunt and uncle sitting at the table having a furious discussion in hushed voices. As Harry came in they looked at him and feel silent.

"What do you want boy?" asked Uncle Vernon in the special derisive tone he reserved for use on his nephew.

"They would like to speak with you in the living room, Uncle Vernon." Harry replied tonelessly. His aunt and uncle exchanged a look.

"Get upstairs boy. And stay there." Uncle Vernon said rising ungracefully from his seat. Harry obeyed.

The next few days was a whirlwind for Harry. He was told so much information which was all hard to absorb and even harder to believe. As far as he could tell many people in the country believed in magic and believed that they could do magic. Apparently it had not always been this way but one day the world woke up and there was a whole group of people who suddenly believed that they had magical powers. They even invented a whole history for themselves and every one of them believed it. They weren't dangerous and so the government let them be until a group of them wanted to overthrow the government of 'muggles' -what they called people who didn't have magic. These people were dangerous but there was no way of knowing how many people in the country thought this. And so to monitor the situation the government set up a 'school' for witches and wizards. The 'witches and wizards' incorporated this school into their beliefs and now many children attended it.

What was interesting though (apparently) was that many children whose families did not believe in magic were receiving letters from 'Hogwarts' which was the name of the school and these children who had no prior belief in magic started to believe and during their time at school became very strong believers. It was a interesting therefore that Harry still had a strong disbelief in magic. The situation had got out of control and the government needed someone to act as a spy or an 'informing agent' as they termed it. His aunt and uncle had kindly volunteered him.

It was of no surprise to Harry that his aunt and uncle had offered his services without Harry's knowledge. They had been displeased when Harry's parents had put them down as Harry's guardians should anything happen to them and even more displeased when something _had _happened to them. They didn't like having Harry around and the prospect of getting rid of him for almost an entire year was too good an opportunity to pass up, even if it did mean handing him over to, as Uncle Vernon called them, 'the lunatics'

"Someone will come and pick him up." the government agents had warned his Uncle and Aunt "They seem strangely keen to have Harry at their school."

"I'm NOT having lunatics in my house!" Uncle Vernon had exclaimed loudly.

Also letters kept coming. They arrived at any time of the day, often in groups of three or more. Every time Harry saw them lying innocently on the doormat his stomach curled with nerves. He didn't want to go to a school of 'lunatics'.

The day before Harry's birthday Uncle Vernon decided to drive them all to some hut near the sea miles and miles away (so the lunatics didn't find out where they lived). They made Harry sleep on the floor downstairs which did nothing to improve Harry's mood. He was miserable. He was cold, the hut was creaking and sounded like it was about to fall down.

_Most boys get presents on their birthday's_, Harry thought miserably, _I get taken to a school for 'lunatics' to become a spy for the government. _One thing was for sure the next year was going to be interesting to say the least.

_Well there you are. Plot bunny satisfied. I don't know whether to continue or leave it as it is._

_Liked it? Didn't like it? Any suggestions or opinions? I'd really appreciate it if you could give me feedback good or bad._

_Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed it. _


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